Breeders join farmers' demonstration in London to protest against change in inheritance tax

The head of the National Farmers Union (NFU) promised Tuesday’s mass protest in London against a planned extension of inheritance tax was “just the start” of action designed to persuade the government into reversing the policy.

Between 10,000 and 20,000 demonstrators descended on Whitehall, including members of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association (TBA), to show their anger at the tax proposal revealed in last month’s budget, while 1,800 NFU members also met with their MPs in Westminster.

The leaders of the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Reform parties – Kemi Badenoch, Sir Ed Davey and Nigel Farage – and television presenter and racehorse owner Jeremy Clarkson were among those protesting against the intention to impose a 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1 million. Such assets had previously been exempt.

Tom Bradshaw, NFU president, said: “Our request is very simple – this is a policy that will rip the heart out of Britain’s family farms, launched on bad data with no consultation and it must be halted and considered properly.

Demonstrators descended on Whitehall in protest against inheritance tax reformsCredit: Wiktor Szymanowicz

“If it doesn’t work today there will be further opportunities. We need to be a united industry with a united voice, telling what this means for you.”

The impact on breeders and stud farms of inheritance tax being extended from April 2026, combined with the planned rise in National Insurance contributions by employers from April next year, has been raised by the likes of TBA chairman Philip Newton, who said it would “accelerate the disappearance of those smaller studs, via estate planning or sale because of death”.

The concerns of farmers were acknowledged on Tuesday by chancellor Rachel Reeves, environment secretary Steve Reed and prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who reiterated his belief that the majority of properties would not be impacted by the tax change.

Speaking to reporters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Starmer said: “If you take a typical case, which is parents who want to pass on their farm to one of their children . . . by the time you’ve built in the other income tax thresholds, it’s only those with assets over £3 million that would begin to pay inheritance tax, and that’s why I’m very confident that the vast majority of farms will be totally unaffected.”

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